Reading the Caster Chronicals
by luvmusic87
Summary: Lena, Link, Ridley, Liv, and John read Beautiful Creautes. Set a few weeks after Beautiful Redemption. Read at your own risk ( you know those people who like to spoil things for themself, don't worry I"m that person ;) ) Please read!


They were all gathered at the Ravenwoods Manor's living room. Lena, Liv, John, Ridley, and Link. In the middle of the room were 4 book and they all started with Beautiful on the cover. Everyone is kinda of sullen about Ethan's death, but in everyones heart they know not for good that Ethan is gone forever.

" It seems that everyone here is for a reason and that reason seemes to be that we have to read these four books." Liv said.

" What do you think it's about becuase I'm not much for reading?" Link questioned.

" I think we all read a chapter aloud, for everyone to read." Lena said in a monatone voice. " Sound like a plan?"

Everyone agreed and got comfortable in a circle, ready for the reading to start.

" So, who's going to start reading?" Ridley asked

"I'll start." John volenteered.

He cleared his throat to start reading, grabed the first book off the stack and found the first page.

**Before**

**The Middle of Nowhere**

" Who point of view do you think this is in?" Lena asked, slightly interested.

" Guess we'll find out sooner or later." Liv said

**There were only two kinds of people in our town.**

" You know that sounds familiar." Link and Lena both said

**" The stupid and the stuck," my father had affectionately classified our neighbors.**

" Okay this _really _sounds familar." Link said

**" The ones who are bound to stay or too dumb to go. Everyone finds a way out." There was no question which one he was, but I'd never had the courage to ask why. My father was a writer,**

" You don't think it's him, do you?" Lena asked quietly.

**And we lived in GAtlin, South Carolina, because the Wates always had,**

" It can't be!" Lena said surprised.

" It seems that it can. Now we can know all of his thoughts, and maybe if we read this it will be as Ethan never left." John said

" I'm not totally on board with this, but I will follow through. I just miss him so much!" Lena said crying softly.

Link gave her a small hug because Ethan would want for him to take care of Lena.

**Since my great- great- great- great- granddad, Ellis Wate, fought and died on the other side of the Santee River during the Civil War.**

" Wow his family sure likes dying." Link remarked.

**Only folks down here didn't call it the Civil War. Eveyone under the age of sixty called it the War Between the States, while everyone over sixty called it the War of Northern Aggresion, as if somehow the North had baited the South into war over a bad bale of cotton.**

" He can't be even truer." Liv stated.

Lena was kind of staring into the distance. She finally got her chance to know what's inside her boyfriend's head; to know what he first thought of everyone, including her.

**Eveyone, that is, except my faily. We called it the Civil War.**

" Why is he going off about the Civil War?" Ridley asked get bored of this already.

" It's part of the town's history, so..." Link just stated.

**Just another reason I couldn't wait to get out of here.**

" He sure got his wish." Ridley said, rudely.

" I understand that you don't like Ethan, but can't you just be conciderate about other people's feelings!" Lena told Ridley.

" Fine! I will because you're my cousin." Ridley huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

**Gatlin wasn't like the small towns you saw in movies, unless it was a movie from about fifty years ago.**

Lena and Link just gave a little chuckle at that.

**We were too far from Charleston to have Starbucks or a McDonald's. All we had was a Dar-ee Kenn, since the Gentrys were too cheap to buy all new letters when they bought the Dairy King.**

Now everyone laughed, except Lena, who is still sad over the lost of Ethan to enjoy joy.

**The library still had a card catalog, the high school still had chalkboards, and our community pool was LAke Moultrie, warm brown water and all.**

Lena smiled at the memories they had there, except for the one.

**You could see a movie at the Cineplex about the same time it came out on DVD, but you had to hitch a ride over to Summerville, by the community college. The shops were on Main, the good houses were on River, and everyone else lived south of Route 9, where the pavement disintegrated into chunky concrete stubble- terrible for walking, but perfect for throwing at angry possums.**

" Aw, throwin' rocks at possums. Good times, good times." Link said fondly.

**The meanest animals alive.**

Lena cracked a smile at that. _Boy, he sure hates possums_. Lena thought.

**You never saw that in the movies.**

Liv smiled, " No we don't."

**Gatlin wasn't a complcated place; Gatin was Gatlin. The neighbors ket watch from their porches in the unbrearble heat, sweltering in plain sight. But there was no piont. Nothing ever changed. Tomorrow would be the first day of school, my sophomore year at Stonewall Jackson High, and I already knew everything that was going to happen- where I would sit, who I would talk to, the jokes, the girls, who would park where.**

" It wasn't going to be that way this year." Link said already knowing where this is heading.

**There was no surprises in Gatlin County. We were pretty much the epiceter of the middle of nowhere.**

" And that's why this chapter is named this." John said. He hated to amdit it, bu tknowing Ethan's thoughts were intersting.

**At least, that's what I thought, when I closed my battered copy of _Slaughterhouse - Five,_clicked off my iPod, and turned out the light on the last night of summer.**

**Turns out, I couln't have been more wrong.**

**There was a cruse.**

**There was a girl.**

**And in the end, there was a grave.**

**I never even saw it coming.**

" That's the end of the chapter." Joh said, fishishing the chapter.

" Do you think he's talking about me?" Lena asked

" Of course he his." Ridley said, trying to be nice to Lena.

" Well, if that's all you have to say, who's going to read next.?" Link asked.

" I will!" Liv told eveyone. She took the book from John and flip to the next chapter.

* * *

**This has been in my head for awhile now, so I decided to do it. R&R. Love to hear your thoughts. Have a good day!**


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